


In Your Eyes

by Penny_Deadly



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Say Anything... (1989), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Apologies to Cameron Crowe, Banter, Ben is a giant soft teddy bear around Rey, Ben is obsessed with Rey's eyes, Ben will do ANYTHING for Love, Chapters named after songs, Children of Divorce, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gay Poe Dameron, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Kickboxing as therapy, M/M, Minor Kaydel Ko Connix, Multi, Mutual Pining, Rating May Change, Recreational Drug Use, References to Monty Python, Rey and Ben are lonelier than their friends and family think, Rey is 18 and Ben is 19, Skywalker Family Drama, Star Trek References, Underage Drinking, Waffle House waffles, cute petnames
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-09 22:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17413631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penny_Deadly/pseuds/Penny_Deadly
Summary: The 'Say Anything..." Reylo AU that was spawned from a twitter poll. If you liked how it's going, please feel froggy to either leave your feedback. Ty!





	1. Friday I'm in Love

**Author's Note:**

> The 'Say Anything..." Reylo AU that was spawned from a twitter poll. If you liked how it's going, please feel froggy to either leave your feedback. Ty!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Since I'm back from a break from writing, I decided to write a Reylo take on the film "Say Anything..."
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

 

May 24th, 2019

 

Graduation day

 

 Cruising down Main Street in his old man's black Impala, aptly christened ‘the falcon’, en route to his graduation ceremony, blasting “Taste the Pain” from RHCPs on cassette, the sun in his face, windows rolled all the way down, the wind blowing through his dark strands. Today, Ben Solo is in a good mood for once. His two closest friends in the back, Gwen Phasma, Bazine Netal chattering inanely about their summer holiday to LA and what crazy shit their teachers wrote in their yearbooks.

 

“I was thinking about asking Rey to the post-grad party as a second date,” his voice interrupting their conversation.

 

  _His comment stopped them dead in their tracks._

 

Phasma shifted forward in her seat with a look of disbelief on her face as if he'd said something offensive. “Ben, are you out your fucking mind? Dude, she's valedictorian and smartest girl in our class for fuck sake. Besides, she's far too good for you. Besides, did you ever have a first date with her?”

 

Already “Yes, we fucking have, Phas. We sat across each other at the mall and had lunch while talking about ‘Star Trek’. A very real physical moment!” 

 

 As soon as they've made her case for and against the idea of him dating Rey, his vintage cassette tape began cutting in and out. _Great, just fucking great._ He finds a semi-used matchbook laying on the passenger seat and jams it under the tape to correct it.

 

“Ben ever tried using Spotify instead of using those ancient as hell cassettes?” she asked clearly annoyed with his fetish for vintage LP’s.  

 

Ben ignores her jab at his appreciation for vintage tapes and vinyl records. It reminded him of his childhood before his parents divorced and everything went to hell in a handbasket, not to mention that their bitter divorce was nearly identical to the plot of ‘Kramer vs. Kramer.’ The idea of being forced to choose which parent to live with was a something he had no interest in doing, so living with his elder sister, Mara Jade was the best option since they got along decently.

 

He sighs as he drives into the crowded car park. “Phas if you think that I've completely lost it, feel free to send men in white coats take me away in a straight jacket,” he sardonically half-shouted. “I've been fucking crushing on her since freshman year.”

 

   The two rolled their eyes and groaned in annoyance. “We know, you lovedrunk bastard,” the two girls bemoaned in unison.

 

  “I would have made a move during high school but somehow you two sweet talked me out of it.”

 

   Bazine couldn’t help but laugh while Ben whined about it like a baby. “This is so sad. Alexa, play “Despacito”.

 

  “Bazine, maybe it’s time to cut back on the memes from Ifunny for a change,” he sarcastically deadpanned.

 

   _This is looking like to be a very long day._

 

* * *

 

  Rey Andor-Erso felt nervous about giving her valedictorian speech today. Her thoughts were a swirl of self-doubt and fear as she rehearsed her speech in her head and out loud in the car. She liked the idea of being at the top of the class but at the price of being with someone and being happy. Few of her friends know about her jealousy of others finding a partner. You know someone to hold you when the world feels like crashing down on you, someone other than your family that can give you unconditional love, the right person to make love to under the stars. She wants to experience every relationship milestone, the potential heartbreak, all of it. Before she could think of something else, her dad’s voice cut into her inner musings.

 

  “You ready to graduate, kiddo?”   

 

_You have no fucking idea…_

 

 “I’m definitely going to bomb it today. To be honest, dad I'm starting to think I’m actually really shit at comedy,” Rey silently wished she were at work repairing cars rather than giving a pointless speech in front of hundreds of people. She was ten when her parents divorced and her mum moved back to the UK rather than live in the same vicinity as him. Cassian chose to keep her in Washington state so she can finish school and have a ‘normal’ life.

 

  He blinks and tilts his head at her admission. “Honey, you're not going to fuck up. How do I know? Because I believe in you. So far it's funny and brutally honest,” he replied in an attempt to soothe her nerves.

 

 In the back of her mind, she knew he was full of shit.

 

* * *

 

 After parking the car in the ‘north forty’ and dressing in their gaudy orange gowns along with their mortarboards, they find the rest of their graduating class behind the steel bleachers near the football field. The place looked like your average high school graduation ceremony in your average teen movie.

 

Ben’s found Rey’s angelic face among the sea of orange, chatting away with Finn, his longtime girlfriend Rose(who were crowned Prom King and Queen, mind you) and Poe ‘the school's gayest homecoming king’ Dameron. He noticed that her wavy chocolate brown hair was down. She was laughing about something from what he could see. Fuck her smile is infectious.

 

_Alexa, play ‘God is a Woman’._

 

“You know she’ll never go for a loser like yourself, Ren.” Armitage Armie’ Hux stood right behind him glaring at him with a sense of superiority.

 

“Does anyone hear a buzzing noise?” He turns around to see an orange-clad Hux sneering at him as if Ben were a pleb. “Oh, hi there Hux or should I say ‘grouchy cheeto’,” he said with an overdose of snark. “Orange really does suit you,” he commented with a shit eating grin on his face. Snark became his way of dealing with the plethora of douchebags he’d crossed paths with.

 

Offended, Hux scoffed while rolling his eyes.

 

_Who the fuck thinks he is, Deadpool?_

 

A short two minutes and the perfunctory procession walk later, settled in their seats toying with their phones, completely ignoring the superintendent's boring ass speech. On the other hand, Ben was far too busy eye-fucking Rey, who was seated on stage, absentmindedly toying with her golden rod hued honours cord, to give two flying shits about his uncle's speech. It was a welcoming distraction for him.

 

_Jesus tapdancing Christ! When is this pretentious asshat ever going to shut the fuck up and sit his ass down for a change?_

 

As soon as that thought popped in her head, she got her wish. The superintendent finally stopped droning on some optimistic drivel about the future and sat down next to the principal. (And there was much rejoicing.) Principal Holdo rose from her seat and walked to the podium only to adjust the mic a little. “And now for Miss Rey Andor-Erso to give her valedictorian speech.” She quickly hustled to her seat as Rey nervously walked to the mic, speech in hand. Only a few people clapped, Ben, being one of them.

 

Rey cleared her throat and began.” Thank-you Ma’am. The real world.”

 

Ben couldn’t help but stare in awe.

 

_Those eyes of hers_

 

She continued. “We're all about to enter 'The Real World'. That's what everybody says. But most of us have been in the real world for a long time. But I have something to tell everybody. I've glimpsed at our future, and all I can say is... 'Go Back'.”

 

The entire crowd dead silent as parents whipped out their phones to record. Ben smiles while listening to her talk.

 

“Ha!” Cassian laughed.

 

“Well, it's almost over. We've gone to school together for four years, and we've been through a lot. But with that training out of High School gone, what's going to happen to us? We all know what the answers are. We want to be happy, go to college, own a car, maybe raise a family. But what if that doesn't happen? I have, I have to be honest though, I have all the hope and ambition in the world. But when I think about the future, the truth is, I am really...scared.” Rey’s voice trailed off.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After the ceremony, Ben found his mother talking to his sister and his hippy philosophy professor uncle, while his dad had Anakin on his lap. He was a little shocked by his parent's forced display of civility in public. Usually, they just ignore each other at family gatherings but when alone in the same room together, it starts as an argument over her career as a lawyer and his gambling habit. Ben and Mara Jade learned to tune them out with a blunt or two, watching reruns of ‘Rocko's Modern Life’, a twelve pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and snacks.

 

On his 16th birthday, his mum gifted him a set of gold dice and the keys to the falcon on the condition that he graduates high school.

 

“Hey, Ben?” We're all going home and ordering out.” Mara’s voice cutting through his thoughts.

 

It took him a bit to snap back from his memories.

 

“What? Oh ok, cool,” he sent a quick group text to Phas and Bazine.

_Goddamn Bazine and her passive-aggressive ‘thoughts and prayers’ bullshit. He could tell it was going to be one long dysfunctional car ride._

 

A quick side quest short trip home followed by several slices of pizza and a massive, and quite frankly unnecessary argument later, he drives to The First Order MMA fight club. The gym was run by an old, decrepit man going by the name of ‘Snoke’. Ben is part of the local kickboxing group, aptly dubbed ‘'The Knights of Ren’. They even gave the name Kylo Ren as sort of ‘stage name’. The sport became his own sort of therapy since he loathed shrinks. He enjoyed the cathartic release of pent up emotions; it's marginally better than rubbing one out. The gym was run by an old, decrepit man going by the name of ‘Snoke’.

 

    After dressing into his all-black gear, and grabbing his giant ruby hued thermos full of red Powerade, Ben thought of Rey, her voice, her face and most importantly, those fucking hazel eyes of hers. He felt like he could just literally throw himself into those bright hazel pools of hers and never wish to leave.

 

   He approached the worn MMA punching bag, imagining Hux's sneering mug plastered at the top and began punching and kicking it as if the bag said something offensive to him. While Ben was ‘destroying’ the bag, he remembered the conversation or should he say "argument" at dinner. The whole affair resembled half ‘Come to Jesus meeting’ half court-martial hearing rather than a casual family conversation over dinner. A full half hour of arguing in, his mother was already calling out his lack of ambition; she has a talent for calling out anyone on their shit(years of law school, as well as hours spent in litigation classes, helped her honed in that skill more effectively.)

 

   An hour later, he drove home for a quick shower. While waiting for the water to warm up, Ben picked up his phone and dialled Rey's number. He remembered her giving it to him after their first date at the Mall.

 

“Hello? Who is this?” Came the girl on the other end of the line.

 

“Hey, it’s Ben Solo, if you remember me from the time we sat across each other at the mall once. We argued about which captain from Star Trek was the best. I recall you telling me Janeway was better due to her sheer badassery and I..”

 

She vaguely remembered his Keanu Reeves-esque face and his towering height. “Countered with Picard being yours since he’s an avid drinker of Earl Grey and the whole ‘You will become one with the Borg’ line,” She shot back. “So how are you doing, Ben?”

 

_Fuck! Why am I loving the way she's pronouncing my name?_

 

He likes the way his name smoothly rolls out from her mouth. “Pretty good. How about you? Oh and congrats on getting valedictorian, by the way.”

 

“Same. Thanks, Ben So do you have something to talk about rather than the inane forced small talk?” she spoke slightly

 

“Yea, there's a party tonight at Snap Wexley's place and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me to the party?” he blurted out all at once.

 

_Real fucking smooth there Solo…_

 

There was a long pause.

 

_Great job Solo, your dumbass self scared her into silence._

 

“Still there? Sorry had to tell my dad where I'm running off to. He has a weird habit of coddling me even though I'm legally an adult.”

 

“Ugh. I know how that is,” he groaned remembering being coddled by his mother when he turned eighteen last November.

 

She chuckled “What time is the party?”

 

“9 PM”

 

“So I'll see you at nine, yeah?”

 

“It's a date, Ben!”

 

Right after the call ended, he stuffed his mouth with a clean washcloth and screamed into the void.

 

* * *

 

  _An hour and a half earlier…_

 

   After coming home from their celebratory peanut butter and chocolate chip waffle dinner at the Waffle House, she was handed a small varnished wooden box.

 

   "What's this?” She asked, her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

 

  “It’s a graduation gift from everyone at the shop, also there’s a something else in there too.”

 

   Rey lifted the lid to reveal a necklace made of brown leather ribbon and various small gears. The main thing that stuck out was a letter from the MIT admissions office. To say she wasn’t apprehensive and dreading this moment would have been a lie. The idea of being able to study mechanical engineering had been a dream of hers since middle school. Moving the trinket to the side and picking up the thick envelope, she carefully opens it and takes out the paper inside and read. Her eyes grew wide as she read the letter.

 

   “Well?”

 

   She sobered up and handed him the letter.

 

   He looked at her stunned. “Does this mean in 16 weeks you’ll be on the other side of the country?”

 

  She swallowed down her excitement and the lump in her throat. “Yup.”

 

They can no longer hold in the excitement and pretend nothing happened. He hugs her as she breaks down into tears.

 

  Wiping her tears away with a kleenex, she hears her phone blare ‘Supervixen’, without warning. She hastily slid her phone from the pocket of her high-waist trousers and accepted the call. “Hello? Who is this?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The majority of Rey's speech as well as Ben jamming to RHCP from the film stayed. However, I chose to have Ben act less like a presumptuous asshole, and Rey having very few friends and added more elements to the story. 
> 
> Feel free to leave feedback!


	2. Fight for Your Right(To Party)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben have their first real date going to her first party while having a debate about if it ok to have sex on the first date among other topics on the way over. Apparently, the two of them have a lot explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the playlist for this chapter.  
> [Playlist for chapter two](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2HcakPvN1Epa6Rg7H9Q9vB)

 

_Later that same day…_

 

Rey spent the better of the night going through the contents inside her giant walk-in closet and vetoed nearly everything. They've only been on one fucking date if you consider it a "date" considering they only ate Japanese and bullshitted about 'Star Trek' of all things. She opened her yearbook and quickly found his picture. Sure, he isn't traditionally handsome but handsome nonetheless. _Thick slightly wavy black hair, bright brown eyes, high cheekbones, large nose, crooked teeth, mole splattered complexion, those large dorky ears, and his lush pink_ _lips..._

 

Without warning, she tossed the book under her bed to rid herself from liking him a bit more. _Fuck him for being this fucking attractive. For fuck's sake Rey it wasn't even a good "date" to begin with._

 

Feeling a bit stressed and apprehensive about the whole situation, she picks up her phone and taps the Spotify app. _Figure a little music will calm my already on edge nerves._ While rifling through the dozens of playlists, before ending up settling for Garbage's 'Absolute Garbage' album, she gets a text from Poe.

 

 

She tossed her vibrating phone back on her bed without as much as a second thought. It was an open secret that Poe has the hots for Hux, of course, everyone knew about it except Hux himself, apparently. In the far reaches of the closet, her eyes catch a glimpse of a dress she bought but never gotten the chance to wear, considering the fact that Rey never wears dresses and never being able to go out, til now. She walked inside to get a better look at it; The garment was a strapless, creamy beige pink, bodycon dress with an asymmetrical ruffle spilling over the top. _Yep, I'm so fucking wearing this even if I need to wear a bloody trench coat over it._

 

 

 

 

After donning into the figure-hugging dress and putting on the final touches, she grabs her phone from the bed to see it was damn well nearing eight-thirty. hope he didn't get lost. I gave him my address and all. As if on cue her dad knocked on her door. Rey studied herself in the mirror while applying a natural pink lip stain. _I can't fucking believe I'm really doing this._

  

 

"Sunshine, there's some guy out here waiting for you."

 

 

"Ok, be out there in a sec," She half shouted while lacing up her brown suede heels, then slipped on the blue crystal necklace given to her after her mum left.

 

 

She grabbed the violet-hued drawstring wristlet, her phone and slipped on a trenchcoat before hurrying down the stairs.

 

 

By the time Rey reached the foyer, she overhears her dad talking about Picard to someone whom she deduced was Ben. When she sees them, they seem to act casual but she could tell Ben was a bit awkward around her dad. He wore an all-black get-up consisting of a longish trench coat, slightly tight fitting denim pants, leather Adidas, and a grey ‘Mötley Crüe’ tee.

 

 

In the corner of his eye, Ben watches Rey come down the steps looking angelic in a beige trenchcoat. When she reached the final step, he slipped his hand from his pocket and held it out for her to take. Rey surprised him when she took it once her feet stepped onto the landing. Sure he's still taller despite her wearing heels but it does offer the ability to look at her face better, especially those green-gold eyes. He raised her hand to his lips and left a gentle peck. His sister reminded him to behave himself around her family, in the off chance he wants to see her again.

  

"Hey," they breathlessly say at once, their eyes not once leaving each other.

 

“You look nice,” Ben nervously replied, taking in the view.

 

Her father's voice cut into their silent conversation. "You got everything honey? Phone? Mints? Ibuprofen? Condoms?"

 

The idea of her own father asking about condoms caught her a bit off guard. "Umm, yea," she answered in complete embarrassment.

 

They followed Ben out to the car, where he jumped in and fired it up. Before Rey opened the door, he went over to hug Rey goodbye before she and Ben left."Please call me when you get there, ok?" he felt a knot in his throat at the idea of his little girl growing up and having her own adventures.

 

"I will, dad," she told him reassuringly before getting in the car and buckling up.

 

"Drive safe!"

 

"Will do, Sir!" He told him before peeling out of the driveway.

 

* * *

 

"Free free to find a tape you want," he handed her a large ziplock bag full of random cassettes.

 

"So are we taking the long way or the one full of shortcuts?" She asked him while she pilfered through the bag. _Def Leppard, no. Styx, fuck no. Jesus, has he ever heard of any kind of music streaming service?_

 

Ben decided on taking the 405 to 90 all the way towards Squak Mountain State Park and Tiger Mountain since the house is located between the two parks.  

 

"Nothing you like?"  

 

She closed the bag and sat it in the backseat. "Negative, Captain. Mind if I picked something from my phone?"

 

Irritated. Ben pursed his lips then groaned. "Fine, go ahead," he wasn't a fan of using streaming services.

 

Right before it was too late for him to change his mind, she whipped out her phone and found something suitable, she already had 'Think I’m in Love' from Beck playing. “Interesting choice,” he casual said while shifting gears. 

 

"Not a fan of music streaming services?" She questioned him bluntly.

 

He huffed a little in response to her judgement of his use of cassettes rather than stream music without paying for it. Ben is a bit old school when it came to listening to music.

 

Most of the songs on her playlist were deemed too inappropriate for their current situation. “I would have chosen something else, but I figured it was best to go for non-sexual music, it's the first date and all." She forced a smile to you know to lighten the mood. "So question, what are your thoughts on sleeping with someone on the first date?”

 

 _"Well, that came out of left field,“_   he mused to himself. "Umm, It really depends on the person and the circumstances, but for me, I think it's perfectly fine to sleep with them since I’ve done it a few times. Now let me turn the question to you, what are your thoughts?”

 

“Well, I agree to disagree then. Personally, I don’t like the idea of sleeping with someone on the first date, since it can ruin a potential relationship or make things complicated. I've had a couple of friends that did, and things didn't end too pretty for them. To be honest, I've never had sex.”

 

Her admission threw his train of thought into a loop. “Why am I not surprised by this?”

 

She folded her arms across her chest, “I've been far too busy with school work to have a social life or date anyone. Which is fine really. It's fine...” Rey admitted as her voice trailed off while focusing on the blur of trees while they drove through a section of dense woods.

 

Sensing her shame with her lack of sexual experience, he held out his hand to her and watched her take it. “Look, it's ok. We can talk about something else if you want.” 

 

She took his suggestion and decided to voice another observation of his character. “You know, you look like you have some sort of 'dark side' aura."

 

Her surface assessment of his character made him chuckle. “Why, do you find that attractive?”

 

Rey smiled at him. "I do.”

 

He stopped the car only to lean his face mere inches from her face. “You do?” He leaned in further till he could see the details of her irises. “Ah, you do.” he huskily replied as if it were a sexually charged threat.

 

Rey felt a spark of electricity shoot through her spine by the way he stared directly into her eyes and into her soul. She felt as if he’d knocked the wind right out of her.

 

_Jesus, fuck! Does he always have to be this intense? I‘m so going to need a cold shower and a Trenta sized caramel cappuccino from Starbucks._

 

Without another word, he shifted gears and they were moving again.

         

“Do think it's ok for two friends to fuck or is that just a massive shit show waiting to happen?”

 

He turns on to the driveway leading up to the house, the party already in full swing. “Honestly, it can, at least in my opinion. Case in point, last year, two friends of mine guy and a girl, known each other for years. So one day, she goes to his place, drunk and sobbing because her asshole of an ex dumped her for his side girl. He's consoling her and next thing they both knew, they start kissing and they ended up fucking. A week later, during prom, shit hit the fan, big time.”

 

“Really?”

 

"Yep! A shit show of epic proportions, bigger than Yakov Smirnoff opening for Spin Doctors at the Iowa State Fair kind of shit show.

 

"Jesus! So what happened?"

 

They pull up to a grand grey brick mansion with a decent sized lake in the foreground and dozens of cars parked around a massive fountain. Ben parks the falcon and cuts the engine off before answering. “Well, he tells her that he’s been in love with her since 7th grade and once he told her, she loses it. She splashes her drink in his face, all while yelling about how unfair it was that he felt the need to unburden his soul about it. A week later, he was struck by a bus, he didn’t make it.”

 

Rey covered her open mouth in complete shock. “Damn! I’m so sorry for your loss.”

 

“It’s ok. Shit happens. I don't really enjoy dwelling on depressing shit like this.” Shoving his keys into his pants and unbuckling both their seatbelts. “Can you open the glove box and grab the bag of joints for me, please? He politely asks her while getting out of the car and taking off his coat then stuffing it in the back.   

 

“Sure,” she opens the compartment and grabs the bag then shuts it before he came over to let her out.

 

“I’ll take that,” and takes them from her outstretched hand all the while pulling her up from the seat.  

 

Rey untied and slid off her coat while he grabbed both racks. When Ben turned around to face her, his eyes grew wide and his mouth felt as if it were stuffed full of cotton at mere the sight of her body-hugging getup. _Goddamn..._ He looked at one of the trees and forced a hard swallow in an effort to not ogle at her like a fucking pervert.

 

_It’s not like she’s visually begging me to pin her against a nearby tree and fuck her brains out. Does she?_

 

She couldn’t help but look at his ass while he looked elsewhere. _Holy fuck, he’s got a nice ass._

 

Closing the car doors after shoving their coats in the back, they walked to the front door in relatively comfortable silence with Rey’s arm looped around his, completely ignoring the sexual tension.

 

“Quick word of warning, Rey. Never try the ‘Purple Passion’ unless you want to spend the next morning hugging your toilet,” He whispered to her once they approached the door.

 

She chuckled at his seemingly light-hearted warning.

 

Right as Rey’s blue-painted finger was just two centimetres away from pressing the doorbell button, the heavy tiger oak door swung open, Bauhaus singing about Bela Lugosi being dead. Their eyes were greeted by the image of a burly guy whom she assumed was Snap Wexley.

 

“Sup Ben! I’ll take those off her hands, dude,” Snap took the two racks and gave them to another guy (who was clearly in charge of drinks) before he drew him for a bro hug. “Who’s your date?” He asked Ben eyeing Rey.

 

“Snap. Rey. Rey. Snap.”

 

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you, Rey. Please come in and make yourselves at home,” he warmly said as he stepped aside to grant them entrance.

 

The home's interior reminded her of an exclusive ski resort in Aspen that wealthy assholes party it up at.

 

As soon as Rey entered the living room, everyone in the room went dead silent in disbelief over fact that the valedictorian of Alderaan High was here and the second thing being that doesn’t have a social life due to her father. Hell, it was a fucking miracle that she had any friends at all.

 

Ben came back carrying a large fish bowl with pens and brown paper gift tags. It was apparent that he was chosen (or volunteered for it) to be the “Keymaster” for the night. The jobs primary function consisted of making sure no one drove home drunk and help them find rides home with others (depending on where they lived).

 

Poe, Rose and Finn ran from the kitchen to see what the fuck was going on and they found her with Ben Solo. The confused look painted on their faces appeared as if Rey had just beaten the fuck out them with the Burj Khalifa building and followed it up with the Space Needle.

 

Snap paused the music, interrupting the silence. “Ok you assholes, listen up! Ben has kindly volunteered to be the Keymaster for the night.”

 

Several people cheered in response.

 

He continued on. “If you feel like calling it a night and you want to go home, check in with him and he’ll run you through ‘the drunk test’. If you pass with flying colours, your keys will be returned you, If you fail miserably, you’ll be asked where you live and he’ll ask around to see if they can give you a ride home, if not, there’s a couple of beds and couch in the pool house, in case if no one can give you a lift. Any questions so far?”

 

“Ok, one at a time, grab a tag, write your name on it, attach it to your keys, drop them in the bowl, and feel free go about your business.”

 

Everyone gathered around Ben and dropped their keys in the bowl before pissing off elsewhere. By the time Poe and co. reached the bowl, they had a few questions for Rey.

 

_Ah shit! I'm in trouble..._

 

Finn and Rose pulled Rey aside into the hall. Rose chose to speak first. “I thought you weren't going? Second, Ben Solo???”

 

Rey sheepishly sighed. “Surprise!” She meekly half-whispered and continued on. “He invited me as his date a few hours ago.”

 

“I see,” they eyed her suspiciously.

 

Poe soon joined them after dumping keys in the bowl. He wore his famous ‘Oh baby, not my gay ass’ shirt and jeans. “There you guys are! What the hell's going on?”

 

“Look who decided to show!” Rose replied while eyeballing Rey; who looked as though she were being accused of committing high treason.

 

Poe cocked his head in surprise. “Why didn't you tell us that you changed your mind?”

 

“I wanted it to be a surprise for guys. I didn't expect to be fucking interrogated by the Spanish Inquisition.” She half shouted at them.

 

As if on cue, Snap barged into the hall, clad with a red cloak, hands on his hips. Apparently, he's a fan of the show ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’.

 

“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!” Snap overly dramatically announced. “Our chief weapon is surprise… surprise and fear… Our weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency... Our ‘three’ weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope... Our ‘four’...no... *Amongst* our weapons... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise... I'll go again.

 

They erupted into a fit of laughter.

 

“Group hug!” Poe shouted as the three including Snap swarmed around a giggling Rey.

 

Rey squealed as if she were the Pillsbury Doughboy being eaten alive by four giant starving children.

 

After breaking up their massive group hug, they chose to migrate back into the living room. Rey hastily fixed her clothes. She was taken aback when Ben stood there leaning on the back of the leather couch, grinning ear to ear with two cold unopened red cans of coke in both hands. He wore a small key on a chain around his neck.

 

Ben offered one of the sodas. “Figured you were thirsty,” he moved closer to where she is and handed her the drink.

 

“Thanks,” she replied while taking it from him, her fingertips lightly grazing his as she took it. Feeling a bit grateful for Ben offering a drink. Her fingers deftly opened it, then gulping down nearly a quarter of the can without so much as a second thought.” I was. Thanks, Ben.

 

He couldn’t help but smirk. She was beginning to grow on him. “You’re welcome, by the way,” He quickly thought of something else before his baser impulses get the best of him. “Did you want a tour of the place?” He proposed as a covert way to spend time with her at the party before they split up on their own.

 

Rey didn’t need to think about it for a microsecond before she formulated an answer. “How about we go find the kitchen, Mr Dark haired angel. I'm feeling a bit hungry,” she giggled while reaching out with a free hand and to play with the ends of his sooty locks. _Jesus, how many bottles of hair product does he use to make his hair this fucking soft_ _? Three gallons of conditioner and a sacrifice to the Greek Gods?_ She wasn’t sure if it’s the atmosphere or the fucking dress or hell, both, but Rey definitely wasn’t feeling like her usual inhibited self tonight.

 

Ever since he was a toddler, Ben strangely enjoyed having his hair played with. His mum used to do it as a way for him to fall asleep whenever he woke up crying from a nightmare, which was a nightly occurrence.

 

“Ben? Shall we go?”

 

He held out his hand to her while biting his lower lip. “You may need to hold on to my hand in case you do get lost since this place is pretty fucking huge.”

 

As Rey took his hand into hers allowing him to lead her through the crowd to the kitchen, the music changed from 90’s hip-hop to a metal band that she secretly listens to when her dad isn’t around. While Ben guided her through the semi-dense throng of partygoers, she looked up at him to see a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

 

“I’m guessing that you’re enjoying my singing for some odd reason?” she asked once they had reached the kitchen.

 

Ben chose to wink at her instead of actually telling her that he did. She took his wink as a solid ‘yes’.

 

When they snuck in, Snap was in the middle of dumping various bottles of clear liquor into a five-gallon pitcher partially full of some sort of blue liquid. Poe, on the other hand, was busy slicing up a handful of finger limes.

 

“If you’re looking for snacks, their right behind me on the dining table. Word of warning, just about everything is spiked with pot or booze,” he absentmindedly told them despite Ben or Rey not uttering a word.

 

By the time she was done loading up a plate of various foodstuffs, Rose had just joined them. They both looked adorable wearing matching red 'Seniors 2k19' baseball shirts and grey jeans.  

 

“Hey, whenever you’re done ransacking the snack table, Finn, Poe, whenever he’s done with the whatever he’s doing, are going to light up a joint by the pool. Wanna come with?” She asked while grabbing a few wrapped brownies.

 

Rey turned around to face him. “You going to be ok by yourself, Ben?”

 

“Yea, yea, go have fun,” He secretly hated the idea of being by himself. 

 

“See ya!” she waved at him before Rose carted her off.

 

Right as Rey left, Ben felt a tapping on his shoulder, he turned around to see Bazine and Phasma wearing slightly bemused looks on their faces.

 

“Hey!”

 

“Oh, you have a lot of explaining to do,” Phasma cooly remarked.

 

Bazine sauntered to him, sipping on a hard lemonade, a dark eyebrow cocked in suspicion. “First off, how the fuck did you get Rey to go out with you? Let me guess, you had to pray non stop to Aphrodite, didn’t you?” 

 

_Fuck!_

 

He'd been dreading this question ever since he arrived at the party with Rey. Since no route of escape was available, he had two options in this scenario, either lie or actually tell the truth. Sighing to himself, he chose to tell the truth over the dumb idea of blatantly lying to them would not help him since they both know when he’s lying or not.

 

“Well, are you going to tell us or not?” Phasma’s voice breaking the silence.

 

His eye twitched a little in annoyance. “I called her and somehow she accepted it,” he told the two, slightly irksome at their line of questioning.

 

The girls traded looks, before folding their arms and cocking an eyebrow at him as if he had said something ridiculous. 

 

* * *

 

Seated around a glass top table, Rose and Finn were making Rey explain how Ben managed to ask her out while Poe lit up a joint. He took the first hit then passed it to Finn on his left.

 

“Let me get this straight, he called you and just asked you to the party?” she questioned before taking it from her partner and she took a quick drag before passing it on to Rey.

 

“Yup.” came her reply. Clearly new to getting keyed, Rey gripped it from the middle and not by the unlit end.

 

“Quick pointer for you, never hold it by the centre, always take it by the end, but I’ll give you a pass on your rookie mistake since you’re learning,” Poe explained as he took it from her and gave her a demonstration before passing it to Finn.

When it was her turn, she grabbed it correctly this time and took a hit. Right before passing it off to Poe, Rey began coughing as if she swallowed too quickly.

 

“You ok?” The three asked in unison.

 

“Yea, I’m good. Forgot to take a breath,” she weakly laughed.

 

Poe gently rubbed her back in an effort to cease her coughing fit.“It usually happens the first time.”

 

In a matter of a few rounds, Rey was slowly getting the hang of it. After hitting it for the sixth time she felt all warm and fuzzy like being wrapped in a giant fluffy blanket. While taking a hit and passing it off, she remembered the news about being accepted at her dream school. “I have some big, big news for you.”

 

“Really?” Poe asked after taking a quick drag from the roach.

 

“Spill,” Rose demanded before sipping her beer.

 

“Well, I got accepted at MIT,” she replied while munching a piece of fruit.

 

Her friends looked at her like she was full of utter shit. 

 

* * *

 

After being grilled hard by his friends about Rey for a solid twenty minutes. Ben felt like going outside for some fresh air. The whole thing felt like he was being interrogated by fucking the CIA. While taking a quick sip from his just opened can of soda, he saw his date having a few laughs and by the looks of it sharing a joint. As much as he wanted to join them but as the keymaster, excessive drinking and getting keyed was frowned upon, plus, he felt it was best to let her have fun on her own.

 

He sighed to himself and plopped on the grey wicker couch, in front of the mini fire pit. Ben feverishly raked a hand through his hair while watching people dance, guzzle beer from a funnel, do keg stands, play Edward 40 hands, just having fun. Ben never really enjoyed parties much. The only reasons why he decided to go out was to avoid a repeat of the stale, routine night of Netflix and leftovers.

 

Ben let out an exasperated sigh then gulped the rest of his soda before propping up his feet and leaned back to look at stars.

 

* * *

 

_Two hours later..._

 

It was nearing midnight, Rey called her dad an hour ago, letting him know she was unharmed. The foursome talked about the school she's going to and the possibility of a future with Ben. Poe went off to find Hux,  Finn and Rose ran off to find a bathroom, presumably for sex reasons. She wondered what Ben was up to so she dug out her phone and shoots him a text.

 

 

Entering the mildly crowded room, 80’s hip hop blaring through the soundbar, she found Ben watching Snap and girl named Kaydel trying to bounce an orange ball into one of the cups of beer. Rey found a good seat on the massive leather couch and watched the game while ogling Ben from afar.

 

Apparently, Snap was actually pretty rubbish at the game since his only red cup remained untouched and her cups were all there, albeit one was missing.

 

After grabbing the ball off the floor, feeling a bit lucky, Kaydel lines up her winning shot bounces the ball on the table. She watched it land into Snap's last cup of beer and flashed him a shit-eating grin.

 

Majority of the girls around them cheered for her. While the boys either cheered for Snap or Kaydel.

 

The look on his face was akin to a deer in headlights. He accepted defeat then chugged his last beer before shaking her hand.

 

“Does anyone else want to play?” He asked the group.

 

For some strange reason, Rey wanted to play. “Can I play?” she asked him feeling a bit brave. She wasn't sure if it was the pot doing the talking for her or what but she felt like having some fun for now.

 

“Have anyone in mind you want to play against?”

 

Her eyes drifted over to Ben.

 

“Ok, Ben do you accept the challenge?”

 

Ben eyed her in surprise and nodded. “Yea.” Ever since childhood, he'd always enjoyed competitive sports, especially two player games.  

 

“Sweet!”

 

While the boys reset the game, Rey untied and slipped off her shoes since it would be a shit idea to play in heels. When approaching the table, she noticed that her cups were filled halfway for some reason.

 

“Rey? In case you’re wondering why the cups are filled only halfway, is because the keymaster can’t exactly get drunk and I thought it wouldn’t be fair if you had to drink half a rack and I had to drink a quarter!” Ben partially shouted over the loud music. “Ever played?”

 

“No!”

 

“Ok, we bounce a ping pong ball on the table and hope it hands in one of our drinks. Usually, it’s played in twos ” Snap bluntly explained to her while handing her red ball.

 

“Ready to play?”

 

“Yup,” they both replied in unison, their eyes glued to each other. 

 

“Go!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Finn and Rose stumbled into the living room after making out for the past hour. She didn’t know how they managed to do that and not fuck was pretty damn miraculous, considering they’ve been dating a year and a half. They see her playing beer pong with Ben and apparently winning. This is the most fun she’s seen Rey have since meeting her in gym class last year.

 

They flopped in Rey’s old seat, guarding her stuff while watching her down a glass of Vitamin R like a champ. From their perspective, they could tell Ben looked a little buzzed.

 

She leaned back and whispered what they both been thinking. “He’s letting her win on purpose.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Rey looked at her five remaining beers, then at Ben’s last two. She eyeballed the distance and made a few calculations before taking her shot. Ben watched the ball bounce dive into one of his beers. If he were playing against Snap or someone else, he would have minded, but with Rey, Ben felt perfectly content with losing to her. He fished the ball out before downing the Vitamin R and tossing red sphere.  

 

“Looks like someone likes losing,” she playfully teased.

  

Rey’s bright eyes widened when it landed in the glass nearest to her left hand. She plucked the ball out before drinking the beer while staring him down.

 

For once, Ben looked nervous as she tossed the ball and watched it land in his last beer. Normally, he would begrudgingly shake the winner's hand and try to forget about it, but in this case, he strangely enjoyed losing a game to Rey. Quirking an eyebrow at her, he picked out the ball and locked eyes with her as he downed his last beer.

 

_Intense much?_

 

She wandered over to Ben and held out her hand, intending to shake hands with him. “Good game?” Rey devilishly smirked at him.

 

He looked at her like she were a goddess that demanded to be worshipped. The way she peered into his eyes, made things hard for him not want to kiss or run his fingers through her hair rather than shake hands. Ben swallowed hard and gingerly shook her hand instead of kissing her since it wasn't the right time. “Yea, good game.” mumbled between them.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Nearly a half hour later, the party ended. Mostly everyone left for parts unknown who wasn't drunk or high as a kite grabbed a garbage bag and helped clean up.

 

While grabbing for someone's keys the from the fishbowl, Ben felt someone tap his shoulder and turned around to see a concerned looking Snap.

 

“Hey, what's up?” he asked after handing some guy his keys.

 

“Huge favour! Can you please take Mitaka home, since I ran out of room in the pool house.”

 

“Sure, after I give the sober people their keys back.”

 

He hugged Ben in gratitude. “Thanks, man!”

 

Rey found him at the door and handing out keys after helping her friends clean the living room. “Hey, Ben! Ready to go?”

 

“Not quite, Snap asked me if I can take a drunk guy home and I volunteered.”

 

“Ah, I'm off to find my friends before they disappear.”

 

After everyone else had left, he, Rey, and Snap found Mitaka resting his head on the toilet seat.

 

Snap squatted down next to him.“Oi! You doin' ok man?”

 

Mitaka looked up at the man beside him and groaned.

 

“Solo is going to take you home, ok?”

 

“K.”

 

Then the two guys helped him up and escorted him to Ben’s car.

 

* * *

 

Three hours later, they were officially lost, yet somehow Ben kept his cool. For the past two hours, the only things they could get out of poor guy were groans and random nonsensical babbling before he fell asleep. By the time they drove past downtown Seattle, toward Alderaan Heights, Mitaka had just woke up from his nap.

 

“Hey, there! Where can we drop you?”

 

He took a look at where he was and mumbled his address.

 

Five minutes later they dropped him off then sped off to a 7-eleven for a much-needed post party Slurpee.

 

After buying a blue raspberry Slurpee and the short trip to Rey's, Ben walked her up to her door. She wore her trench coat as a  way to cover up the scent of pot.

 

“So, did you have a good time?”

 

“Yea, did you?”

 

“It's better than a night of Netflix and cold leftovers. I’ll text or call you whenever I get up, ok?” Truthfully, he didn't want the date to end.

 

“Sure, I'm going to go have a quick shower and have a good nap.” She stole a small sip of his drink while hugging him goodbye.

 

Rey snuck inside and hurried to her room before her dad woke up.

 

After taking a short shower, she was dressing for bed when her dad opened the door, wearing his pyjamas and robe.

 

“Morning or should I say have a good nap? Did you have fun?”

 

She smirked as she climbed into bed. “Yea, loads. Ben was a complete gentleman. He volunteered to be the guy who had everyone's keys so no one drove home drunk.”

 

“Very admiral thing he did. Anyway, I'm going to go down to the shop and do some work.” He went over and hugged and kissed Rey goodnight, then left.

 

Rey fluffed her pillow then passed out, thinking about Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're wondering about some of the slang I used.
> 
> A rack is 24 pack of beer.
> 
> Keyed means getting high on pot.
> 
> Vitamin R is Rainier Beer.
> 
> Snap and Ben are fans of Monty Python.

**Author's Note:**

> I chose 'Friday I'm In Love' by The Cure since the ceremony happens on a Friday afternoon. I have a Spotify playlist for this chapter and the next one. The speech that I used is pretty much in verbatim from the movie. 
> 
> The next chapter will have them going to the party where things will happen. ;)


End file.
